Heywood Island

August 8, 2012
We left Killarney and motored out the Lansdowne Channel.  After clearing the channel, we unfurled the sail and had a quiet sail to Heywood Island. Lansdowne Channel has 2 narrow spots and I prefer not to sail through tight spots. The main harbour at Heywood is large and has good holding but is very exposed to north winds, which is what was predicted.  We motored around Browning Island to a well protected cove behind Shoal Island. When we arrived there was 1 other boat there anchored so we anchored beside, well protected except for the occasional wind that wraps around the island.  During the afternoon, several other sailboats arrived and anchored.  Great sunset.

August 9, 2012
The next morning, the first boat had hauled anchor and left.  Good thing because she ran her engine 3 times the day before each time for an hour.  Several of the boats that were more exposed to the wind moved into the open spot. The morning weather report was for strong northerly winds, continuing for several days.  Looks like we would not be going anywhere for several days. Good opportunity to change the alternator belt and put some straps on the exhaust hose.
In the afternoon, Dave from the original Swallow, rowed over and invited us for cookies at 4pm.  Dave and Donna are from Delaware and brought their boat up through the Trent-Severn Canal. It was their tradition that on the trip back at the last anchorage they would invite everyone in the anchorage for cookies.  Since they decided to winter the boat in Little Current, Heywood would be their last anchorage. At 4pm we dinghied over to Swallow and met several other of the boats at anchor.  Renate and Bruno from Champagne III said that they bought their boat from a QCYC member. Ann and Bruce on Okaga, an Aloha 32, live in the Yonge and Lawrence area in Toronto.  Barb and Peter from Blue Corona, a catamaran powered by duel outboard engines and solar panels. Good times, good cookies.

August 10, 2012
Winds were strong all night but stayed mostly out of the NE so we were well protected.  Sansei seems to swing on her anchor more some other boats.  Probably a combination of being relatively light and a short keel. One thing that I will have to fix is that the anchor roller is slightly narrower than the bow support.  So as the boat swings, the roller will hold until the end of the swing and then snap across and bang against the other side.  Good thing about the bang is that it indicates that the anchor is still holding but it does take some getting used to.
Weather report is for rain and continued strong winds from the N so not going anywhere today. Quick swim since the water temperature seems to be a little cooler than Mary Ann Cove. We settled in for a rain day.  There had been some talk about happy hour being on Blue Corona but it started to rain hard at 3:30pm so that got rained out.

August 11, 2012
Still strong winds from the NE but backing to N.  No sense going anywhere. Except for the visit to Swallow, we had not been off the boat and had not touched land in several days.  41' does not provide much distance for a walk or exercise. Belinda was doing some pilates in the aft cabin. We dinghies over to the main harbour in Heywood.  There is a big sandy beach there which would be the reason for its popularity in a SW wind. Did a short walk on the beach.

Peter from Blue Corona came by to invite us to the happy hour. So we rowed over to Blue Corona at 4pm. The same crowd as the day before arrived.  We were joined by Jill and James from Joshua. More good times.

August 12, 2012
Winds have eased so we haul anchor and head for Little Current.  The anchor is caked with mud/clay and takes a while clean the anchor.  After leaving Heywood, we motor up to the Strawberry lighthouse and then across to the bridge. We are going to be close for timing for the bridge so I throttle up and cruise at 6.5 kts. We make the 11am opening and then tie up at the end of B dock.  After 4 days of strong winds, there was a mass exodus from Little Current.  Most of the docks are empty and the dinghy poker run has to be cancelled. We decide to do some laundry and then go for a walk to the beach.  When we return to the laundry to put the wash into the dryer, the manager informs us that he ran out of propane so the dryers are not hot.  He expects a propane delivery later in the afternoon. We hang some of the laundry on the lifelines to dry but after the propane delivery we put the stuff in the dryer and make our way to the Anchor Inn to watch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. For dinner we had take out fish and chips from the Dock Side. Good but not as good as the school bus in Killarney.

August 13, 2012
Not much scheduled today except for some boat cleaning. Sunrise in Little Current.

Cruise ship Yorktown arrived this morning.